re: DAT 10/9: Off Day Discussion (Game 5 Thursday 6:07 pm)

I know the offense is the bigger problem right now but Hinch made a monumentally stupid decision to start Verlander last night for two reasons.

1) The Rays just saw him 4 days ago and that recency factor in facing him proved crucial to better success. Throw in the fact that JV wasn’t even close to as sharp as he was in Houston because of short rest and it was a recipe for disaster. The decision to start him reeked of AJ’s arrogance that he could trot “one of the best pitchers in the world” on short rest and expect him to dominate. And his postgame “no regrets” stand was typical of his “I went to Stanford and know more than you” bullshite. JV is a creature of habit and I don’t care what he said after game 3 or after last night’s game about being okay and defending Hinch’s decision. He was towing the party line because he’s a team player and a professional. But his body language was screaming how stupid this was.

2) The psychological effect. If Hinch would have started Urquidy and the Rays touch him up for a few runs and go on to win, hey, they faced a rookie in his first postseason start. But after beating one of our two headed monsters there’s a renewed confidence that wouldn’t have been there going into a game 5 with the prospect of facing a fully rested JV with a Gerritt Cole in relief.

Well to be clear, my first statement did say the offense was the bigger problem.

I never at any point had an issue with Verlander starting last night. 2 things lead to him pitching Game 4:

1) The utter collapse of Wade Miley at the end of the season, creating a void at 4th starter.

2) Having a 2nd starter the caliber of Cole

If your 2nd starter is an "average" 2nd starter, you save Verlander for game 5. But when you have the guy who will probably win the Cy Young as your 2nd starter, then you can trot out your #1 starter for game 4. I like Urquidy, but I have no doubt he would have met a similar fate to JV had he started, and the offense scored a grand total of 1 run anyway, so it didn't matter who started.

But the main culprit is Miley. I know, Greinke was shite in Game 3, but dude is human and capable of having a bad game. Until about 4 weeks ago, Miley was as good as it gets for a #4 starter and him completely falling apart down the stretch showed its effect last night.

Yeah I know. Just in regards to the verlander thing it’s the easy hindsight 20/20 and to be fair many (including myself) were questioning it as a panic move at the time but I just have to put in perspective of what I like about this team and what I have faith in to get the job done it goes as follows

1a verlander
1b cole
1c Bregman

Anyone else is a distant second or worse.
Even if it’s a slightly reduced verlander I have to bet on winning 1 out of 2 with verlander and cole rather than only having one pitch.

If we lose on Thursday blame hinch and his idiotic lineup construction. Put the best hitters first.

Altive
Bregman
Alvarez
Gurriel
Springer
Correa
Tucker
Brantley
Maldonado

His superstition over hitting springer first is ridiculous and Brantley hasn't had a pulse for over a month.

Have we chosen a DAT starter for tomorrow?

I just read pages 8-11

what a fricking 1st inning melt by the stros fans last night

quote:

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Have we chosen a DAT starter for tomorrow?

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Lou Pai

quote:

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Hinch just didn't want to rock the boat so he didn't tell him no.

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Or other words he didn’t want to do his job.